The HUN-REN SZTAKI DSD team, responsible for ARP developments, continuously monitors, supports, and, after release, integrates Describo's developments into the AROMA component of the ARP Data Repository. ARP developers maintain constant communication with the Describo team and keep the ARP component up to date.

One of the core elements of ARP, the ARP AROMA (RO-Crate Manager), is used for editing metadata packaged in RO-Crate format. Through RO-Crate, ARP users can provide much more detailed metadata beyond what Dataverse offers, particularly regarding the files within data packages.

A fundamental principle in ARP development is integrating existing open-source software whenever possible. Accordingly, the ARP Data Repository and its associated ARP services are built upon enhanced versions of various open-source software solutions and their interconnections.

The same approach was applied to AROMA. The HUN-REN SZTAKI DSD team, responsible for ARP's development and operation, built AROMA around the Describo RO-Crate editor. They supplemented Describo with functionalities that integrate its services into the ARP system, enabling synchronization between RO-Crate and Dataverse metadata, as well as aligning it with the ARP schema registry to allow the association of arbitrary metadata schemas with files.

When an external software serves as the foundation of a module, it is necessary to track its updates and incorporate new developments. Since Describo is a key dependency of AROMA, SZTAKI DSD continuously monitors and actively participates in the development of Describo’s RO-Crate rendering and editing module (crate-builder-component), tests new versions, and integrates the results into AROMA.

The integration is complicated by the fact that Describo is developed in Vue, whereas AROMA is built in React. To make Describo usable in React, DSD created and maintains the Describo crate-builder-component-react, which bridges the Vue and React environments, enabling Describo to function in both. When a new Vue component is released, DSD develops its React version, which is then made available in the npmjs repository.

Describo continued to evolve throughout 2024, with over 50 new releases this year. Some of these developments address bugs reported by SZTAKI, ARP users, and Describo users. Additionally, Marco La Rosa, the project's lead developer, has undertaken several internal refactorings and optimizations and has started transitioning the project from JavaScript to TypeScript. This does not involve rewriting the code but rather enhancing it with language elements and types that improve maintainability.

Thanks to these new developments, more of Describo’s internal logic will become accessible in React, allowing for the creation of even more user-friendly interfaces in AROMA in the future.